Narrative History of ignition, Inc.

Two of the initial programs that ignition created paved the way for what has become the foundation of the company’s core competencies. First, ignition was hired to develop a program for Wham-O to celebrate the 50th birthday of the Frisbee and the 40th birthdays of Hula-Hoop and Hackey Sack. Two trained ignitors set off in one of the newly released and redesigned VW Beetles to visit 50 cities in 50 days. Beginning in New York City with a public relations launch on the Today Show, through hundreds of live radio interviews while on the road and visits at children’s museums and school, the Wham-O Birthday Celebration presented an innovative, unique and creative public relations solution that focused on the human touch. By delivering a simple, yet precise selling message, thousands of interactive opportunities were created between the consumers and Wham-O’s three brands.

At the same time, AT&T retained ignition to create and implement a national program for 10-10-345. Through a NASCAR sponsorship, ignition developed operations and ancillary marketing programs for 10-10-345 including the creation of a loyalty club. When AT&T began to transition its dial-around product, ignition evolved the marketing experience to concentrate on Hispanic activation focused on soccer. By running clinics in key target markets, ignition was able to highlight the financial advantages of using 10-10-345 to call back home to Latin American countries. This program became a springboard to expand ignition’s work within AT&T when it rolled out the 1800 CALL ATT program. Eventually, we became the only agency working in an experiential marketing capacity for AT&T.

These two early projects were exemplary of the foundation of ignition: innovative yet simple programs focused on human interaction that could evolve and be flexible as the client and/or product’s needs evolved. ignition stayed focused on training and execution, on-time and on-budget—values that are still central to the work philosophy of ignition.

Since our inception in 1997, the marketing environment has progressed commensurate with advancements in technology. Today, more than ever before, companies must work harder to capture and hold the increasingly fragmented public attention. ignition has been at the forefront of a new vision, partnering with other pioneers such as Kevin Wall (who founded Stage One, BoxTop Interactive, iXL and currently Network Live) to develop further our core service offerings in the areas of strategic asset management and development. We maintain a keen focus on the human interactive experience and how it enhances the consumer’s overall relationship to a brand.

Incorporating the human touch “up-stream” during a campaign’s development stage is critical. At ignition we believe that in today’s on-demand world, the human interactive experience is the new paradigm for a cohesive, comprehensive and effective marketing mix.

In 2004 ignition entered into a partnership with Kevin Wall, founder and CEO of Control Room (formerly Network Live) . The first multi-platform digital entertainment company, Control Room is committed to delivering live entertainment programming through the Internet, satellite and other third-party global media platforms such as VOD, wireless and HDTV. In addition to Wall, who most recently served as Executive Producer of Live 8, Control Room includes strategic partnerships with several companies who provide technological and broadcast innovations to deliver a totally integrated entertainment network that offers audiences control and customization in how, when, and where they experience entertainment content.

Aligning our company with the right resources to capitalize on the way people receive media in the 21st century has been an important aspect of our strategy for achieving corporate growth. We recognize that “attention” has become a scarce commodity; therefore, brands and companies must continuously re-invent and evolve their media delivery methods to capture their consumers. In today’s “on-demand” world where everyone can have a front row seat regardless of the medium, we are experiencing an era where “content in the right context” has become paramount. The partnership with Wall and the associates of Control Room provides a fluid method for creating context, allowing ignition’s expertise with the human interactive element to move seamlessly between communication mediums and develop unlimited content. It is an excellent arena for ignition to realize exponential growth opportunity.

HISTORY